Is food in the fridge safe to eat if the power goes out?

From Public Health Insider
By Meredith Li-Vollmer

Don’t make yourself miserable by eating spoiled food.

If your power goes out:

• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to keep the cold air inside.

• If you have a food thermometer, throw away any food in the refrigerator or freezer is warmer than 45° F. If you don’t have a thermometer, throw out any food that has not been in a working refrigerator for more than four hours. Foods that remain frozen are not a risk.

• Either eat or freeze leftover foods right away, particularly meats, seafood, dairy products, cooked potatoes and rice.

• If in doubt, throw it out.Never taste suspicious food. It may look and smell fine, but the bacteria that cause foodborne illness may have grown on the food and will make you sick.

Never use charcoal, gas, or propane heaters indoors. Odorless, invisible fumes from charcoal, gas, and propane can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Using these heaters indoors can also increase the risk of fire.